


a breath of fresh air

by demonsorceress



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: AU, F/F, vlog au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-21
Packaged: 2018-02-04 13:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1781110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsorceress/pseuds/demonsorceress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye is a vlogger. Fitz makes Jemma watch one of her videos. That's how it starts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There aren’t a lot of things that can disturb Jemma’s focus. She concentrates easily on her school work wherever she chooses to do it, from a silent library to the most crowded of coffee shops. Though she obviously prefers the silence, even loud music isn’t generally a problem; she finds it quite easy to tune out and keep working.

However, if Fitz dares burst into laughter one more time, she’s going to snap.

It’s ironic, considering he’s the one who always gets irritated at the smallest of noises when they’re studying together. This time, he was done with his project sooner than her, and now he’s sitting on the couch of their apartment, right behind her, giggling like an idiot and eventually laughing hysterically at some point or another. She wonders what is making him laugh so much, but it won’t matter if she smashes his laptop just like that scene from The Social Network.

She endures it patiently as he covers his mouth, but it doesn’t last long. Less than a minute later, she hears his muffled laughter and gives up. She gets up from her seat, stomps over and stops right in front of him, closing his laptop way more gently than he deserves.

“Hey!” He protests as she pulls his earplugs.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m still working on my project!” She remarks. “Will I have to ground you and send you to your bedroom like a 7-year-old?”

“I’m sorry, I really am, Jemma,” he apologizes sincerely, though his lips are still quirked upwards thanks to whatever he finds so funny.

He starts opening the lid of his laptop again and Jemma puts a hand over it, stopping him. “Laugh one more time and I’m going to kick you out until I finish my work. Okay?”

He nods. “Alright.” The screen lights up once he opens it completely.

As soon as she motions to walk back to her seat, he asks, “Don’t you want to know what I’m watching?”

“If I’m being honest, not really,” she retorts. “I’m busy.”

He answers anyway. “I’m watching Skye’s new video.”

“What?” Jemma asks immediately. She’s not sure whether what he just said is a person’s name or something else.

He smiles knowingly as if all he ever wanted was to be asked to explain this to her.

“Skye,” he repeats, and it’s definitely a name. “She’s a vlogger.”

“She’s a what?” She’s already annoyed at him for saying it like she’s supposed to know what the hell a vlogger is.

“She has a vlog,” he explains. “A vlog is a video b-”

“I know what a vlog is,” she cuts him off. Lying. She didn’t actually know, but the term “vlog” is pretty self-explanatory if you understand what a blog is. “And you used to have better ways to spend your free time.”

“Don’t start judging me so soon, you’ve never even seen a vlog before!” He chides, maybe a bit too defensively, as if he agrees he could be doing something better with his time. She smirks smugly.

“First time for everything, right?” She takes him by surprise. “Pick your favorite Skye vlog video or whatever. You’ve peaked my interest now.”

Now it’s his turn to smirk as he slides to free up some space for her to sit beside him. His fingers move quickly over the trackpad and keyboard and he eventually opens one of the dozens, likely even hundreds of videos. It’s titled “YES ALL WOMEN”—like that, in all caps—and the description reads “a rant about feminism, rape culture, and why it’s always ‘not all men’ when instead it should be ‘yes all women’.”

Fifteen seconds into the video Jemma nearly admits that if she knew the vlogger was this pretty, she’d have found time to watch her videos before.

Her long waves of hair flow over her shoulders, the tone of brown gradually lighter on the tips. Other than that, there’s nothing really remarkable about her appearance, and though she’s just truly gorgeous, appearance is the last thing Jemma cares about once the video is over.

The girl is indeed funny, not to say hilarious sometimes. She’s not forced at all; it’s all in the way she talks, jumping from one subject to another in a heartbeat, randomly blurting out a couple of jokes or silly puns. An eight-minute video is enough for Jemma to notice that the girl can make pretty much anything sound sarcastic if she wants to, even when debating such a polemic subject as feminism.

No wonder Fitz picked this video to show Jemma. Skye’s not only quite good at proving her point with strong arguments and exemplification, she does so with a determination that makes it clear she doesn’t care whether her viewers will agree or not. She’s not doing this to please anyone, as she remarks in the end of the video.

By the time the player fades to black and displays a bunch of other videos to choose, Jemma finds herself thinking about the smallest details the subject to which she doesn’t usually spare much thought.

"This is by far her most interesting video in my humble opinion," Fitz says. "Did you like it?"

"Um, yeah, she’s quite clever," Jemma replies, hoping it’s not clear that she really feels like clicking on one of those other videos of Skye on the screen. "I, however, don’t understand why you were laughing so much before."

"Oh, most of her videos aren’t like this one. They’re mostly far less serious than this. I want to show you this other one where she-"

"Not now, Fitz," she interrupts gently. "The video was good but I still have a project to finish."

* * *

Later that night, Jemma finishes the book she’s been reading every day before bed, and finds that she doesn’t yet have another one to start.

She’s not sleepy yet, since it’s rather early, and suddenly an idea pops into her head.

Not allowing herself to think too much to avoid dismissing what she wants to do, she grabs her phone on the bedside table and pulls a pair of earphones out of the drawer.

Opening the YouTube app, she has no trouble finding Skye’s channel. It turns out she’s more popular than Jemma expected; most of her videos have hundreds of thousands of views. (Jemma’s not sure if that’s much in terms of popular vloggers, but it seems a lot to her.)

All of the titles are in all caps and most of them don’t make a lot of sense, except for a few ones like “how not be an assole”. Jemma somehow finds a page inside the channel that has a short “about me”, where the girl introduces herself as “Skye (no last name)” and Jemma finds out that they’re about the same age before she quickly shifts back to the videos and opens one at random.

Fitz wasn’t kidding about the other videos being far less serious than the one he showed her earlier; by the end of this one, Jemma feels stupid for how many times she burst into laughter during its seven minutes.

Half an hour later, Jemma pauses the sixth video she’s watched and forces herself to turn off her phone and go to sleep.

She’s pretty sure she’ll be doing this again soon.

* * *

A week later, it has become a habit of Jemma to watch a couple of Skye’s videos before bed every day. Some are better than others, and a few of them are quite silly if she’s being honest, but generally she finds watching them a good way to unwind and relax a bit after long days of working hard on her studies.

Jemma tells herself that her interest is merely a result of finally having something to take her mind off school work even if it’s just for half an hour a day, though at some point or another during the week she ends up switching from YouTube to Google, where she searches for Skye’s name. (Stupid. As if she’s the only Skye amidst seven billion people in the world. Realizing her amateur mistake, she types “vlogger” after the name and thankfully gets some results.)

She doesn’t find a lot of information. One of the first results is a fanpage on a website called Tumblr—even though the title has the word “fanpage” in it, Jemma would’ve probably guessed anyway since Skye doesn’t strike her as the type who would make a page where the background is such a bright pink that Jemma squints looking at it. In addition, the posts have a black background with white text, which makes for a very inconvenient combination. The first page features a bunch of moving images of Skye, clearly taken from her vlog, but Jemma quickly finds a big, flashy link that says “about Skye” and clicks on it. The new page greets her with an adorable picture of Skye smiling widely, and below there’s a short list of basic information on her.

There isn’t anything really detailed, though. Apparently not even Skye’s most dedicated fans managed to discover much about her personal life. For example, the part about where she lives says simply “US”, with an observation in parenthesis clarifying that she’s never mentioned a city or even a state.

Quickly tired of reading on the poorly designed page, Jemma takes a look at a few other Google results that don’t shed much light either before giving up and putting her phone away to go to bed.

* * *

Fitz hasn’t brought up Skye once recently, and Jemma doesn’t really consider it necessary to tell him that she’s been watching her vlog nonstop for the past ten days.

The thing is, she doesn’t need to tell him.

“Skye posted a new video earlier today,” is the first thing he says when he returns to their apartment after going out to shop for some groceries.

She moves her eyes away from her biology textbook to give him a faux confused look, hoping it’s convincing enough. (It isn’t.)

“Thought you might be interested,” he adds knowingly, and the tone is enough for her to notice that he already knows somehow.

Still, she responds with, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He chuckles. “Tell me, which videos did you like the most? I love that one where she does the cinnamon challenge.”

“…haven’t watched it.” She says. It’s true; she hasn’t watched it yet. (She makes a mental note to search for this specific one later.)

“Don’t worry, I already know about your newest hobby,” he blurts out calmly.

Busted.

She doesn’t bother to try to deny it; he clearly doesn’t have any doubts and she’s a terrible liar anyway. “How could you possibly know?” She asks, frustrated.

“I couldn’t find my phone yesterday while you were in the shower before we left for class, so I took yours to call myself and it went straight to the YouTube app when I unlocked the screen,” he explains.

“Still an invasion of my privacy,” she shrugs. “I was bored. Her videos are entertaining.”

He laughs, satisfied for pulling the truth out of her. “I know.”

She rolls her eyes, unimpressed. Could’ve been worse. At least he didn’t see her browser history. That would’ve been embarrassing.

* * *

On saturday night, instead of staying home and watching a movie on Netflix like they usually do, Jemma and Fitz are on their way to a party.

“I don’t understand why we’re going,” Jemma remarks as she stares out the window, watching the blur of houses as they pass by them. “Two weeks ago you told me this guy only invited us because he felt ‘sorry’ we never go to parties. There’s a reason for that. You hate parties.”

“Don’t shift the blame onto me as if you love them,” he argues. “Anyway, even though I’m not very fond of parties, I recently realized that we consciously deprived ourselves of having the full college experience by not going to one single college party.”

She snickers. “Did you really just say that-”

“Besides,” he’s not finished with his explanation yet.” “I noticed you’ve been working harder than usual for the past few weeks, and that’s quite shocking considering I didn’t think it was possible for you to be any more dedicated to your schoolwork. Is it because of what Professor-”

“No,” she cuts him off dryly, but snaps anyway. “And I refuse to have yet another conversation about that homophobic piece of crap and the unbelievable argument that led to him dropping my grade. It’s already being handled by his superiors and hopefully he’ll get what he deserves.”

Her tone makes it clear that Fitz shouldn’t persist with this topic, and he knows her well enough to take the hint, pursing his lips. Jemma has always been the most respectful student in the world with her teachers, and admired most of them, which says a lot about how much that specific teacher infuriated her.

She’s the one to break the silence a few minutes later. “You seemed rather determined about us not missing this party,” she comments. “Are you particularly interested in something?”

He shrieks but says nothing.

“Or someone?” She insists.

He’s clearly amused by her questions. He can be really frustrating when he wants to be.

“You should know by now that you can always be honest with me,” she says, half-heartedly joking while also trying to get him to just say something.

And Fitz does, though it’s not nearly what she expected.

“Oh, Jemma dear,” he starts. “It’s rather hilarious that you’d think I’m doing this for myself, really.”

She doesn’t get to press the matter. During her frown as she tries and fails to figure out what the hell he meant by that, he parks and announces that they’ve arrived. Jemma then realizes she didn’t even notice the god awful loud music blasting out of the blue house next to them. Maybe she’s just much more distracted than she thought, thinking about how many things she could be doing at home instead of being here. (Let’s just say it can be measured in videos.)

* * *

“Okay, why don’t you just tell me what you’re looking for?” Jemma begs, annoyed. She and Fitz are standing in the middle of the party. She’s doing absolutely nothing; meanwhile, he won’t stop looking around like an idiot since they arrived. It’s been less than half an hour and she just wants to go home. This is such a huge waste of time.

“It’s nothing,” he dismisses her again.

Suddenly, he seems to find what he’s searching for, and Jemma has no idea what it is due to the sheer amount of people covering every single square meter of the living room.

“I’ll be right back,” he motions to turn away from her but hesitates. “Are you going to be alright?”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m not a baby in a hot car,” she states. “Go and do whatever you apparently came here to do!”

He laughs just like he did in the car again. “Why don’t you go grab a drink? I’ll just be a minute.”

She waves him off and he leaves her there, amidst a crowd of drunk, excited teenagers that keep bumping into her.

It takes her a few “excuse me”s here and there for her to cross the crowd and get to the “bar”—quite an overstatement for the kitchen worktop littered with bottles of various alcoholic drinks and red plastic cups left by people who were too lazy to find a bin.

Jemma guesses that the money spent on alcohol is probably the reason there’s no food at all. She’s hungry and curses herself for not having a snack before leaving for the party.

There are only a few stools, none of which are empty, so she just stands awkwardly by the counter top and eventually pulls her phone out of her purse to do something random. Fitz is unlikely to be back anytime soon, she thinks.

As soon as the first person leaves their stool by the bar, Jemma takes their place. If she’s bored to death, at least she’s sitting down, right?

Literally two seconds later, her phone beeps with a text from Fitz. Her jaw drops as she reads it in disbelief.

“Look to your left. You can thank me later.”

She’s honest to god afraid to look, but does so anyway, discreetly, and nearly jumps out of her skin as she notices she’s sitting right beside none other than Skye the vlogger.


	2. Chapter 2

Despite the amount of thoughts going on in her mind, Jemma immediately makes the decision that she’s not going to establish any form of contact at all with Skye. It’s a bad idea. Jemma grabs her purse on her lap, ready to leave the bar as quickly as possible, maybe even call a cab to take her home. She just wants to wash off this makeup, change these clothes for sweatpants and a large T-shirt and throw herself into bed.

That impulse is followed by the sudden acknowledgement that Skye is ridiculously attractive. Not that she wasn’t aware of that before, but still. Jemma barely took a quick look at the side of Skye’s face and already feels her heart clench in her chest.

Her plan of leaving the place unnoticed doesn’t go so well when she moves too quickly and bumps her hand against the counter, dropping her phone on the ground. The noise draws Skye’s attention and she starts bending down to retrieve it at the same time as Jemma does, her hair falling over her face as she reaches for the phone. Bloody hell.

Skye smiles softly at Jemma as she hands the student her phone, and as if the timing could possibly get any worse, another text from Fitz makes the screen light up. Panic reaches Jemma’s features and she doesn’t think, she just snatches the phone from Skye’s hand.

Skye looks surprised for a brief moment before looking away and picking up the cup she left on the counter, because it’s clearly worth her attention way more than the ungrateful girl next to her. Great.

When Jemma finally reads the long text, it says, “What a coincidence that Skye lives here and she’s friends with the guy whose house we’re in right now! One last small detail I may have forgotten to mention… She’s gay. x”

Jemma’s jaw drops to the ground just like her phone did seconds ago. Putting the pieces together, she realizes that this was Fitz’s plan all along; he’s playing cupid yet again despite the disaster of his last attempts, and she fell for his excuses so easily.

At the same time, however, she feels a little bit of hope bubbling in her belly. Pathetic. She’s pathetic, with a pathetic crush on a vlogger. This whole situation is just pathetic.

Unable to resist the urge to let Fitz know how mad at him she is before storming out of here, she dials his number and he picks up in a heartbeat.

"Listen here, you bastard," she starts, the words sounding strange on her whispered voice. "Enjoy the night, because it’s your last."

With that, she hangs up, hoping it didn’t come out too childish. She doesn’t have a lot of experience in threatening people, and her accent doesn’t help a lot.

Looking back up, she catches Skye sneaking a glance at her, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. Clearly Jemma’s voice wasn’t as low as she thought, though there was no way of whispering and making sure that Fitz would hear her over the music. Seeing her, Skye’s smile fades away and is promptly replaced by a timid look.

"Sorry," she mutters, sincerely apologetic, probably sure that she’s bothering Jemma.

Jemma wants to crawl under a rock and just stay there.

"No, it’s okay," Jemma says straight away and Skye looks up to face her again. "I’m sorry,” she adds, her cheeks growing hot. “And thank you for… You know, picking up my phone.”

Jemma smiles, hoping it’ll be enough to compensate for how rude she was before. Thankfully, Skye smiles back, and Jemma can barely keep herself from letting out a sigh of relief. Still, her heart flutters at the sight of Skye smiling at her, the Skye she’s been seeing through phone and computer screens for the past two weeks.

"You know," Skye starts, shifting on her seat so she’s facing Jemma completely, "you look pretty harmless for someone who’s about to commit a homicide."

Jemma lets out a nervous laugh, loosening the grip on her purse, no longer so eager to go home, in spite of a part of her brain telling her that she should just leave before she can do something even more stupid. “For the record, my nosey, stubborn best friend asked for it.”

Skye laughs softly, reminding Jemma of when she absentmindedly blurts out something silly on her videos and then laughs at herself; it sounds just like it does now.

Jemma can’t stop fidgeting with her nails, unable to hold Skye’s gaze for too long. Skye is looking at her like she’s the only interesting thing in the house, which truly says a lot about this party.

“Can I get you something to drink, …?”

Noticing that the pause was because Skye didn’t know how to address her, Jemma says, “I’m Jemma.” For a second, Skye just smiles, kind of waiting for something else. “And no, I don’t want a drink, but thank you,” she adds.

"Okay then, Jemma." Jemma can’t deny she likes the way her name sounds in Skye’s voice. "Nice to meet you. I’m Skye."

"I know," Jemma blurts out accidentally. However, thinking about it, she supposes there’s no point in pretending she’s the main character of some cheesy teen romance story where she’s "different" than other girls because she doesn’t care about a certain popular or famous person until the two of them meet and predictably fall in love. "I… I’ve seen some of your videos."

Skye seems genuinely surprised to hear that. “Oh.” She lets out a low chuckle, looking down. “Is it weird that now I feel like you kinda know me already?”

Jemma can’t stop the sheepish grin that splits across her face. “If it makes you feel any less weird, I didn’t even know you lived in this city.”

"Yeah, well, I make an effort to keep some personal details a secret." She wrinkles her nose thoughtfully. "Which doesn’t make a lot of sense, since I literally make a bunch of videos talking about myself."

Jemma notices a hint of self-deprecation in her tone, as if she thinks vlogging is kind of self-centered. “It does make sense, actually,” Jemma responds and Skye looks a bit confused so she elaborates. “You choose what you let people know, you don’t have to tell them everything.” Jemma shrugs.

"Yeah, I guess you’re right." She agrees.

An awkward silence follows, and Skye doesn’t break eye contact as she takes a sip of her drink. Jemma gazes at Skye’s lips briefly, clenching her jaw and quickly looking at the girl’s eyes again.

"Can I ask you something?" Skye brushes a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Sure."

Skye sighs, tilting her head slightly. “Are you as hungry as I am?”

Jemma laughs, amused by the way Skye manages to make their whole interaction feel like they’ve known each other for quite some time. “I could eat a horse,” she confesses.

Skye’s face lights up with a relieved grin. “Good,” she says. “Wanna get out of here?”

Jemma feels her mouth go dry. She definitely wasn’t expecting this. The last time she heard that exact same sentence, coincidently also on a bar, it wasn’t exactly pleasant. (Some guys just really need to update their gay radars.)

"Uh, I’m not sure, I don’t think I should leave my friend here…" Jemma gasps.

"I didn’t ask if you should, I asked if you want to.” Skye gives her a flirty smirk and Jemma’s mind goes blank. “Besides, if you’re planning on murdering them later, we could grab something to eat and then I promise I’ll be your getaway driver.”

How could Jemma possibly say no to an offer like that? “It’s a deal, I suppose.”

* * *

When they’re in Skye’s car—the car she borrowed from her rich best friend, according to Skye—Jemma pulls her phone from her purse and excuses herself to call Fitz and let him know she’s leaving.

"Can I do it?" Skye extends her hand, a playful smile on her lips.

"Sure, why not?" She dials and gives Skye her phone.

Fitz takes only a couple of seconds to pick up. “Hello, this is Skye the vlogger. Just wanted to let you know that I’m taking your friend Jemma out on a date to… any place that has actual food, really. So, have a good night!”

She doesn’t wait for him to say anything. Jemma is laughing hysterically when Skye gives her back her phone.

Skye shrugs. “Nailed it.”

* * *

During the car ride, Skye keeps insisting that Jemma choses the place, but Jemma refuses to answer anything other than, “Anywhere’s fine to me.” They end up going to a restaurant that Jemma has never been in; Skye guarantees it serves food to please any taste, though Jemma doesn’t care about the menu as much as the company.

"So, what do you do?" Skye asks after they order drinks.

“I’m doing my PhD,” Jemma says automatically.

Skye seems baffled before shaking her head. “That’s really impressive, but my question didn’t come out like I wanted it to. I meant to ask what you do on your free time, you know, for fun,” she clarifies.

Jemma doesn’t really know how to answer that. “Free time…” She chuckles humorlessly. “I haven’t had a lot of that recently.”

“So what, you just study all day?” Skye asks teasingly, and looks surprised when Jemma’s expression remains nonchalant and she nods. “Wow.”

“My life is pretty boring.” Jemma feels her cheeks flush.

Skye shakes her head. “No, no way.” She leans a bit closer to the table. “It’s just… It’s not everyday that I meet someone who actually likes studying. What do you study, then?”

“Biochemistry. I mean, I double majored in biology and chemistry.”

“Wow,” Skye repeats, awestruck. “That’s also really impressive. You look smart,” she observes.

“Well,” Jemma tilts her head and blinks slowly, trying to seem as smug as possible. “I do what I can,” she jokes.

When Skye laughs, Jemma feels that small flicker of hope grow bigger and smiles too. Just maybe.

* * *

Jemma can barely feel the time passing as she and Skye talk about a huge range of things, somehow going from hobbies to stories about their most awkward dates. Skye has some pretty hilarious ones, including one that she talked about in one of her videos that Jemma has seen, but she doesn’t mention it because she doesn’t mind hearing the story again. (It makes her laugh as much as the video.)

Jemma’s thrilled to notice that Skye in person is just like Skye in her videos. The randomly blurting out funny things like there’s no filter in her brain, it happens when she’s not in front of a camera too, and it’s just as funny. One time, she finds a double entendre in something she just said and proceeds to wink at Jemma and then say she’s just joking.

Long after they’ve finished eating, they’re discussing their personal tastes in music and entertainment in general, and Jemma realizes that they’re quite different.

They share a guilty pleasure: pop music. Skye admits it first and thinks it’s unbelievable when Jemma says she likes pop too, having to take a look at the music app in Jemma’s phone as proof. The amount of Britney Spears songs is convincing, and Skye even promises to do her Britney impression someday when she’s drunk enough.

That’s pretty much the only thing they’ve found in common so far when it comes to entertainment. Skye likes TV shows more than movies; Jemma is the opposite. Skye likes dramas and comedies; Jemma likes criminal procedurals and sci-fi.

"We have nothing in common," Skye says thoughtfully under her breath, and Jemma agrees.

"Couldn’t be more different."

Jemma thinks it’s a good thing, though. It means they have a lot to talk about; Jemma can’t wait to get to know more about Skye, and she hopes Skye shares that feeling.

* * *

"No, I’ll call a cab, don’t worry. You don’t need to-"

"I want to,” Skye insists, cornering Jemma between the passenger’s door of the car and herself.

Eventually, Jemma gives in and lets Skye drive her home.

* * *

Jemma feels a bit disappointed when they stop in front of her house and she motions to open the door to leave, but there’s also an anxiety that sends shivers down her spine when Skye opens her door as well.

Jemma’s heart is pounding in her chest and she can’t remember the last time she felt so nervous.

Standing next to the car, Jemma tries to control her breathing as Skye walks toward her. With an awkward smile on her face, Skye stops in front of Jemma and rubs the back of her neck.

"I’d like to see you again," Skye starts, a bit unsure.

"Me too," Jemma replies, and Skye’s eyes light up. Jemma doesn’t understand why someone like Skye would have doubts about this. Of course Jemma wants to see her again. Go out with her lots more. And kiss her. Jemma really wants to kiss her, especially now it would only take a short step   to feel Skye’s lips against hers. Instead, Jemma holds out a hand and says, “Give me your phone.”

Skye doesn’t ask what for before pulling her phone out of her pocket and handing it to Jemma. Jemma quickly types her phone number and adds it to Skye’s contacts.

"Jemma Simmons," Skye mutters to herself when she gets her phone back and sees the screen. "I’ll call you tomorrow. Or later today, since it’s past midnight."

"I’ll wait for it," Jemma says.

Suddenly, Skye takes a step closer and slips her hands around Jemma’s waist. Jemma looks down, absolutely unable to react, or even breathe properly.

"I’m going to kiss you now," Skye whispers, her face so close that Jemma feels Skye’s breath hot against her skin. "If that’s okay with you."

Jemma raises a hesitant hand to cup the side of Skye’s face and Skye needs no further confirmation. She leans in and presses a kiss to Jemma’s lips.

Jemma tangles one hand itself in Skye’s hair and the other presses into Skye’s back, pulling her closer, their bodies already pressed flush together.

Skye is the one who breaks the kiss and Jemma finds herself leaning forward, wanting more.

Surprisingly even for herself, Jemma kisses Skye again, this kiss lasting even longer than the first, leaving them both breathless.

Despite how much she wants to stay there and kiss Skye once more, Jemma moves away from her gently and says, “Have a good night, Skye.”

Skye lets a “wow” escape before laughing at herself and replying, “Good night, Jemma.”


	3. Chapter 3

Jemma would be lying if she said she’s a hundred percent focused on this assignment. The truth is, it’s not everyday that she’s got something like last night to think endlessly about. The sensation of Skye’s lips against hers is too fresh in her mind and added to that, the fact that she went on a date with a vlogger because her best friend dragged to a party with an ulterior motive, it’s all too distracting.

And to think that two weeks ago Jemma was completely unaware of the existence of vlogs.

With a groan, Jemma realizes she forgot about her tea—which really says something about how absentminded she is. Reluctantly, she takes a sip of the now cold tea and puts it down again. This is getting ridiculous and she really needs to focus and finish this assignment already.

An hour later, after she finally started getting her work done and forced the distractions away from her mind, her phone rings and she curses herself for not putting it on silent. She’s in the middle of reading a paragraph on her laptop so she doesn’t even take her eyes away from it; instead, she reaches for her phone and answers it without looking, bringing it to her ear.

She thinks it’s probably Fitz; they haven’t spoken since he walked away from her at the party last night. He left home early and all she found when she got up was a note saying he was heading to the library for a tutoring session with Donnie and would be back in time for them to have lunch together.

However, when she hears a very distinct voice saying “hey” softly to her, Jemma’s heart starts beating a bit faster. Utterly surprised, she gets to her feet and paces away from the table.

“Skye?” She asks because she doesn’t know what else to say, though the voice is unmistakable.

She really didn’t think Skye would call her today, despite her having told Jemma she would. Jemma has been through her fair share of dates that ended with politely exchanging phone numbers and never actually calling each other afterwards. Her date with Skye went pretty well, though Jemma would be too shy to refer to it as a date herself—they just got away from a party lacking food to grab dinner together, no big deal—but Skye called it a date so it was a bloody date. Still, a small part of her was trying not to get her hopes up, even though the bigger part was pretty sure that Skye would call her.

Maybe not today, but soon. Definitely not before 11AM, however. This is a plot twist to all of Jemma’s thought-out scenarios.

“Yeah,” Skye answers. She sounds a bit concerned, and there’s a loud noise coming from near her that Jemma can’t quite make out.  “Did I wake you up?”

Jemma runs her free hand through her hair as she paces eagerly around their small living room. “No, not at all,” she assures Skye. “I’ve been up since 8AM, actually.”

After saying that, Jemma asks herself whether that was a relevant thing to say or not, and the mental answer is negative. “Studying, I bet,” Skye comments, and laughs along with Jemma when her guess is confirmed. “I wouldn’t even be up by this hour on a Saturday if it weren’t for my stupid roommate. Just a second.”

Jemma can hear the clink as she rests her phone on a surface and then a few footsteps. The background noise gets louder—Jemma assumes a door has been opened—and she notices it’s a lot of gunshot sounds and yelling. It’s either a video game, the television or Skye is calling her from a warzone.

“Grant!” Skye bellows, her tone simultaneously angry and beseeching. “Look, I’m sorry I borrowed your car without asking yesterday, but if you don’t turn that goddamn volume down I swear I’m gonna shove that remote up your ass.”

Jemma snickers and covers her mouth quickly. The guy, Grant, replies something that she doesn’t hear well and thankfully proceeds to turn down the volume. She hears the door smash and then Skye picks up the phone again.

“Sorry,” Skye says. “Uh, I know it’s early, but I meant it when I said I wanted to see you again, Jemma.”

Jemma has never felt like more of a sappy teenager than when she replies with a cheerful grin, “That makes two of us.”

She can tell that Skye is smiling when the girl speaks. “Great, because I nearly texted you last night when I got home,” Skye says with a chuckle, as if to diminish the truth in what she confessed, like when people put “lol” in the end of a message when they don’t want it to be taken too seriously. “Anyway, are you busy today?”

If Skye asked Jemma to meet her downstairs in five minutes, Jemma would probably not even hesitate, but she forces herself to give Skye the honest answer: “I have to finish some schoolwork, but I’m almost done so it should only take a few more hours and then I’m free.”

“So, you wanna maybe go watch a movie later?”

“Yes, that sounds great,” Jemma answers and immediately regrets it. She sounds silly and desperate, but Skye was the one who called her less than ten hours after they last saw each other, so there’s that.

“Cool, I’ll pick you up at six then, okay?”

“It’s a date,” Jemma blurts out before she can think this through. She can feel the burning of her cheeks and quickly changes the subject to avoid an awkward silence. “So, what movie are we watching?”

Jemma can picture the look Skye has on her face when she answers, “Does that really matter?” Jemma rubs the back of her neck as she feels the blush of her cheeks deepen. Thankfully she doesn’t need to find a response to that, because Skye ends the call with a joyful “See you later, Jemma.”

Jemma grins widely. “See you.”

* * *

Jemma hears the key turning in the lock and Fitz’s footsteps as he enters the apartment, but doesn’t look away from her work. She doesn’t need to look to make sure there’s a smug grin on his face. He greets her and walk toward her, stopping right next to her chair and muttering, “You’re welcome.”

Jemma doesn’t even flinch. “Tell me something, is Skye a good kisser?”

She glares at him in disbelief. He’s holding a thick Physics textbook and his expression is the definition of self-satisfaction. “I’m afraid that your actions as cupid don’t change the fact that this is none of your business,” Jemma replies cynically.

In different circumstances she’d have no problem telling him about the date; they always tell each other pretty much everything. This time, however, Jemma wants to keep the details to herself for some reason. Part of that reason is definitely that she’s sure she’ll start blushing if she tells him anything regarding the last night. She turns her attention back to her laptop.

Fitz chuckles dryly. “I bet she swept you off your feet,” he teases.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Jemma rolls her eyes. “Let me remind you that you still have some explaining to do.”

“Oh, and what would that be?” He questions, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“For starters, how did you know she was going to be at that party, how did you know she lives here in the first place, and how did you know she’s gay,” Jemma spits out. “Basically explain to me all the circumstances surrounding your little plan.”

“It’s all quite simple, actually,” he starts, taking a seat next to her. “I have my sources, you know.”

“Oh, please.” Jemma cackles.

“You tend to underestimate my ability to gather information about-”

“You mean gossip,” Jemma corrects him, laughing.

“Anyway, Donnie’s buddy Seth saw Skye at the Boiler Room a month ago.” He’s referring to a known bar close to campus where the undergrads generally hang out. “One of Seth’s friends tried to hit on Skye and was quickly turned down.”

“And how the hell was turning down one guy that, as far as we know could be an asshole, enough to make you assume that Skye is gay?” Jemma questions nonchalantly. “I mean, now I’m sure she is, but-”

“If you’ll let me finish,” he interrupts. “He later saw Skye hooking up with a girl there at the bar.”

Jemma feels an unexpected wave of jealousy at the thought of that. “Two questions answered, one to go. How did you know she was going to be there last night?”

“Oh, I didn’t,” he replies, much to Jemma’s shock. “That part was sort of a shot in the dark. I asked around after I started watching her vlog and found out that she and the guy who threw the party are close friends.”

Jemma rolls her eyes once again. “You’re unbelievable,” she remarks. “And that’s creepy.”

“Now that I answered your questions, you can tell me how the date went.”

Jemma chuckles. “It went well. Now get out of here and let me finish my work.”

He groans in protest and insists a bit, but sees that she isn't going any further than vague answers and finally gives up.

* * *

Jemma steps out of her building and Skye is in her roommate's car with the window open, smiling cheerfully at her.

"Hey beautiful," Skye says as Jemma opens the passenger door and enters the car.

"How did you get your roommate to lend you his car again?" Jemma jokes and Skye laughs.

"He owes me one for walking his dog every day this week," she explains briefly. "He was traveling because of work and came back on a redeye yesterday."

They talk during the short ride to the cinema, mostly about their days. Skye tells her that she's thinking about looking for a job, because the freelance works with coding and general computer stuff that she's been doing recently aren't enough anymore and she wants a stable payroll. Jemma encourages her saying it's a great idea and even offers to help on the job search.

Skye says that they'll go out and celebrate together when she finds a job and Jemma smiles at the thought. The mention of a long-term plan for them, even something as small as this, makes Jemma weirdly happy. She'd usually be anxious at the prospect of starting a relationship so soon after meeting someone, but in this case Jemma’s just glad that she's not the only one considering the possibility.

* * *

They choose a random action movie that starts in half an hour and kill some time at the coffee shop next to the movies. Jemma feels like she could talk to Skye for ages and still have things to talk about, but she also really wants to kiss her. She won't have to wait long, however, since they're about to go on a movie date.

Which, of course, is nothing but an excuse to make out for two hours. And Jemma is rather excited about that.

* * *

The first fifteen minutes of the movie are cool. That's about how long they pretend they actually care about it and try to pay attention to the plot.

When Skye makes a snarky comment that Jemma doesn’t understand, Jemma leans closer and asks her to repeat. Instead, Skye stares at her for a moment before closing the distance between them and pressing their lips together. Skye tastes like the coffee she just drank and Jemma normally despises coffee but right now she doesn’t mind. She wraps her arms around Skye’s neck and shifts on her seat so that they’re closer.

When Skye kisses her way to Jemma’s neck, Jemma’s head falls back and she realizes that the movie theater wasn’t so good of an idea. She’d much rather be anywhere else than in a room full of people, but she can’t deny it kind of provides a bit of an extra thrill. At least it’s not a kids movie and the endless sound of guns, screams, car chases and explosions covers up any… noises elicited.

Jemma cups Skye’s face in her hands and kisses her lips again, taking Skye by surprise and Skye moans softly against her lips. Jemma runs her hand through Skye’s hair while Skye’s hands rest on Jemma’s waist.

Eventually they pull away; Skye wraps an arm around Jemma’s neck and Jemma rests her head on her shoulder, her lips still tingling from the pressure of Skye’s. They don’t pay a lot of attention to the movie anyway; Skye is toying with Jemma’s hair and Jemma thinks it’s weird how she can feel so comfortable around someone she just met.

It just depends on the person, she guesses.

* * *

During the ride back from the cinema, Skye slips her hand into Jemma's and absentmindedly draws small circles on Jemma's skin. When they stop at a red light, Jemma leans in and kisses her.

Skye takes Jemma home just like yesterday, but this time their goodbye kisses thankfully last a lot longer.

Jemma wonders if she’s starting to get used to this whole kissing Skye thing. (Probably.)

* * *

The first time Fitz sees Skye with Jemma is when he arrives home on a rainy Wednesday afternoon and they’re on the couch, Skye sleeping with her head resting on Jemma’s lap. Jemma is holding the papers she’s studying above Skye’s head and playing softly with the girl’s hair as she sleeps peacefully.

As soon as Jemma sights Fitz and the smug smirk on his lips she mutters impatiently, “Don’t you dare say-"

He ignores her and says, chewing on every syllable, “You’re welcome!”

* * *

It's been a month since the two of them started going out together, and Jemma is sure that if she described her relationship with Skye to anyone, the person would say they're dating.

Still, Jemma corrects Fitz whenever he refers to Skye as her girlfriend. She and Skye haven't really talked about it yet, nor do they need to. Jemma doesn't think it's necessary to label their relationship already, and they never bring it up anyway. It's not like they act as if their relationship is something temporary; they both know it's serious, they're obviously not seeing anybody else and they both want it to last.

But they definitely act like girlfriends. The whole package: holding hands in public, talking to each other every day, walking Grant's dog together. Sometimes Skye comes to Jemma and Fitz's place and just stays there keeping Jemma company when she's busy with schoolwork.

Also, Jemma now finds it weird to watch Skye's vlog videos. There’s no logical explanation, she just feels odd going on YouTube and watching someone that she sees—and kisses—pretty much every day talking about the most random things. Jemma once called Skye when she was in the middle of recording a video for her vlog, and Skye picked it up. You know how everyone's voice sounds different on phones and on video and recordings? Listening to her own voice on speakerphone and in a recording nearly drove Jemma into an existential crisis. Thank god Skye only asked her to say hi so that her watchers could hear her “cute little British accent” before saying she’d call back later and hanging up.

So yeah, you could say they’re dating, they just don’t say it yet.

* * *

It’s already dark outside when Skye calls her for the first time that Friday, which is no big deal but it’s strange considering they usually go out together on Friday nights, or just generally talk to each other earlier in the day. Nevertheless, Jemma was too busy that Friday to think much about that.

They talk for a couple of minutes and Jemma notices that Skye doesn't sound as bubbly as she usually does. Maybe she's just tired, but Jemma feels like something is off. "So what are we doing today?" Jemma asks.

Skye hesitates. "You know, I'm not really in the mood to go out..."

Jemma is definitely surprised; Skye is never not in the mood to go out. "Are you alright?" Skye is silent for a few seconds so Jemma insists, her tone tinged with concern. "Did something happen?"

"No, everything is fine, I just... I'm not feeling really well today. Can you maybe come over?"

"Of course, I'll just change and be on my way," Jemma assures her, though she's not convinced that Skye is simply 'not feeling well' for no reason.

"Thank you, Jem." Skye ends the call with a weak “bye” and hangs up before Jemma can answer.

Jemma stares at the screen of her phone, her brows furrowed in a mix of disbelief and bemusement. Now she knows for sure that something is off.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Skye opens the door wearing only a huge red T-shirt that doubtlessly belongs to her roommate and looks like a dress on her. She smiles, but it doesn’t really reach her eyes. She gives Jemma a quick kiss and closes the door behind her.

“I assume Grant doesn’t know you’ve been sifting through his closet.”

Skye shrugs. “He has a thousand identical shirts, won’t even notice I took one.” She hugs herself with a faint smile. “They’re comfy.”

Jemma is concerned and wants to ask Skye what’s happening, but it doesn’t feel like Skye is purposefully hiding something from her; instead, it looks like she just doesn’t feel comfortable talking about whatever is bothering her right now. Jemma believes that Skye will open up to her when she wants to, and decides not to press the issue.

The TV is turned on and displaying the Netflix homepage. Skye’s laptop is on the coffee table next to her phone and the TV remote. There’s also a near-empty glass of Coke and a small bowl of peanuts. Jemma tilts her head. “Have you been watching shows all day?”

Skye looks down shamefully. “Maybe.”

“Why didn’t you call me earlier?” Jemma takes a step closer to Skye and rests her hands on the other girl’s waist. “I could’ve come here sooner if you’re not feeling well.”

Skye shakes her head. “Nah, I’m fine, don’t worry.” She brushes a lock of hair behind Jemma’s ear and kisses her again, which is an effective way of taking Jemma’s mind off the matter. “Grant won’t be home anytime soon, he’s working all night today. Would you rather watch a movie or marathon another show?”

A smirk crosses Jemma’s lips. She slides her purse off her shoulder and slowly pulls out something she’s sure will make Skye happy. “Oh, I don’t know, though I do have a suggestion…”

As soon as Skye sees the Doctor Who seventh series blu-ray she lets out a happy chuckle and sways forward to cup Jemma’s face in her hands. “I want to watch the shit out of this right now but I also really want to kiss you.”

Jemma wiggles her eyebrows, glad that she could make Skye smile at least. “Those are not mutually exclusive options if you ask me.”

Skye laughs softly and presses a kiss to Jemma’s lips.

* * *

It takes Jemma only the first episode to notice that Skye is not very focused on the show.

They sit next to each other in the beginning, but Skye lazily spreads her legs across the couch and uses Jemma’s thighs as a pillow, as she often does when they’re watching something together at home. Jemma spends the rest of the episode gently stroking Skye’s hair, and she knows this always makes Skye sleepy, but now Skye is just fidgeting with hair nails, seeming contemplative.

Halfway through the second episode, Skye suddenly sits upright and grabs the remote to pause the show. She turns to a confused Jemma and says calmly, “It’s my birthday today.”

Jemma's eyes widen and she panics for a split second before realizing that Skye isn’t mad at her for forgetting, because she didn’t forget. She never even knew in the first place. Skye never told Jemma the date of her birthday and Jemma remembers that not even the fans who made that fanpage that Jemma saw several weeks ago knew the exact date.

She finally understands that Skye is a bit sad today not because Jemma didn’t know it was her birthday or any other reason, but simply because it is.

Instead of asking Skye why she kept it a secret, Jemma pulls her into a hug. Skye wraps her arms tightly around Jemma’s waist and buries her face into Jemma’s chest. Jemma whispers into Skye’s ear, “You deserve the happiest of birthdays."

Skye lifts her eyes so that their gazes meet. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but... I never tell anyone. Actually, you and Grant are the only ones who know, I think."

Jemma runs a hand through Skye's hair, still holding her close. They don't say anything for some time until Jemma pulls away gently and asks, "Don't you like celebrating your birthday?"

"It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just…” Skye exhales deeply, trying to find the best way of explaining it. “My birthday always makes me kinda sulky. Besides, I don’t see the point in celebrating it unless it’s with the people that you care about… And that care about you the same way.” Skye sounds a bit uneasy and Jemma knows that she’s telling her something that she rarely ever admits. “I don’t want people to say ‘happy birthday’ to me unless they truly care about me and aren’t just saying it to be nice. I know it’s silly, but…” Skye stops talking when she raises her head and notices that Jemma has quite the thoughtful look on her face. She reaches for Jemma’s hand. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

Jemma places her other hand over Skye’s and says, “Do you think that grocery store around the corner is still open?”

Skye narrows her eyes. “Probably, why?”

“Because I know how to make a delicious mug cake, if only we had the ingredients. And birthday candles.”

Skye throws her head back and closes her eyes as she laughs softly, and in that moment Jemma knows that she understood the message.

* * *

“Hey, is your phone close?” Jemma asks as she pulls the ingredients out of the plastic bag and lines them up on the kitchen counter.

“Yeah, what do you want?” Skye has her phone in her hands.

“Will you please look up ‘mug cake recipe’?”

“I thought you knew how to make it!” Skye protests in disbelief, her tone playful as she smiles, making Jemma glad that she’s managing to lift Skye’s spirits a little bit.

“I do, but I didn’t memorize the exact measurements of the ingredients!” Jemma justifies.

“Yeah, right,” Skye says jokingly. “I bet this is the first time you’re trying to make this.”

“Stop questioning my cooking skills and just google the bloody recipe, Skye!”

* * *

They don’t sing happy birthday to Skye because they both agree it would be pathetic but Jemma insists on lighting up the little candle she bought and making her blow it out.

“Is it good?” Jemma asks when Skye eats the first bite of the cake.

“Yeah, it’s delicious,” she answers and Jemma immediately fist-pumps and laughs, utterly self-satisfied. “You’ve never really made this before, have you?”

“No,” Jemma confesses. “But I read about it the other day and thought, how hard can it be?”

The blissful look on Skye’s face as she takes another bite of the cake makes Jemma wonder if she ever expected it would take her such a short time frame to care this much about the ridiculously cute girl sitting in front of her. Looking at Skye now, she knows it was inevitable.

* * *

Jemma wakes up with her arm draped across Skye’s stomach, and finds that the other girl is already awake, staring with a blank expression at the wall in front of them.

“Good morning,” she says as Jemma retracts her arm and yawns.

Jemma checks the clock on Skye’s bedside table. She thinks about getting up but remembers it’s Saturday and reasons that she might just stay in bed a while longer.

“Since when are you awake before eleven?” She asks, groggy. “Something on your mind?”

Skye hesitates for a moment before answering. “I was just thinking…” She trails off. “It’s nothing.”

“Tell me,” Jemma insists, rolling to her side so that her body is pressed against the side of Skye’s.

Skye sighs as if gathering the courage to say something. “Jem, are we dating?”

Jemma feels her heart thump against her chest. They’ve never, not even once, discussed the state of their relationship. “I don’t know. Are we?”

“If we’re not, would you like us to be? Because I would, I want you to be my girlfriend.” Skye blurts out.

Jemma raises her eyebrows in shock, only because she wasn’t expecting Skye to say something like this out of nowhere at nine in the morning. Skye apparently thinks her reaction means she has doubts, which is far from true, but she doesn’t give Jemma time to say anything.

“Look, I know it’s soon and I’m completely clueless because I never had a relationship nearly as serious as I feel like ours is. And I tried not to rush things with you for some reason but waiting is just not my style. Clearly, since I called you ten hours after our first date.” She chuckles nervously. “I mean, why wait? I like you a lot. I always thought that I’d be better off alone but made me question that for the first time. I’d love to-”

Jemma lets out a giggle because she’s never felt so speechless in her entire life. She then realizes how awful it is to laugh after someone says something like what Skye just said to her and covers up her mouth, completely awestruck. Jemma’s lips quirk upwards and she gaze at Skye like she’s the most precious creature in the universe.

“Don’t you dare give me those damn puppy eyes, Jemma,” Skye protests apprehensively, rolling her eyes.

Jemma laughs as she shifts in bed until she’s straddling Skye and Skye supports her weight on her elbows. “You know I’d love to call you my girlfriend too, right?”

Skye exhales deeply and she looks so relieved that Jemma’s smile widens. “If I already knew that I would’ve spared you the romantic rambling.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Jemma jokes before she leans in and kisses her girlfriend.

(Yeah, she definitely can get used to calling her that.)

* * *

Jemma barely even hears the door opening but it's enough for Skye to stop kissing her right away.

"Oh look, Grant's here!" Skye pulls away from Jemma and jumps out of her bed.

Skye starts pulling the sheet that's covering Jemma but Jemma promptly grasps its edges, firmly keeping it over her body. Skye opens her closet and pulls out a pair of shorts and a tank top; Jemma groans at Grant's god awful timing.

Skye puts on the shorts and then turns to stare at Jemma, a questioning look on her face. "What are you waiting for? Get your ass out of that bed and put some clothes on!"

Jemma protests by spreading her body across the bed like a child.

"Do you want Grant to see you wrapped up in my sheets, only in your underwear beneath it?" Skye asks in a challenging tone.

"What?" Jemma's plan was to stay in Skye's bed lazily waiting for her to come back and pick up where they left off due to the interruption.

When Jemma looks at Skye again she's already wearing the tank top and running her hands through her bed hair. "C'mon, Jem! I want to introduce him to my girlfriend."

"But I've met him before.”

Skye steps closer to the bed. "We weren't dating yet," she argues and then steals the sheet from Jemma, rolling it up in a ball and leaving Jemma almost naked on the bed.

"Bloody hell, Skye." Jemma reluctantly gets to her feet and gathers her clothes.

As soon as she's all dressed, Skye unlocks her bedroom door and steps out ecstatically. Grant is standing in the living room, loosening his tie, his jacket already hanging on the coat rack next to the door. There are dark circles around his eyes, and Jemma wonders for how long he's been awake. She doesn’t know much about his mysterious job except that he wears dark suits on a daily basis and that he can’t talk about it, even with Skye. Buddy, his dog, is barking hysterically and pawing Grant's legs. He looks a bit surprised to see Jemma there, though it's not the first time that Jemma spent the night at Skye's place. (He doesn't know that. Or does, who knows what Skye tells him.)

Skye strides toward him; he throws his arms around her and hugs her tightly, planting a sweet kiss on her forehead. He's been at work since before Skye woke up yesterday, but Jemma knows that he called her during his break to wish her a happy birthday. Still, he says again, "Happy belated birthday, Skye." She smiles. "And I forgot your gift on my car; I'll go down there and pick it up, I just need to take a nap first, okay? I'm exhausted."

"Sure, yeah, you need to get some sleep. Just one thing..." Skye gestures for Jemma, who's been awkwardly standing by the door of Skye's room, to walk closer to them, and Jemma does so. The height difference between her and Grant is so huge it's pathetic, she has to practically throw her head back to look him in the eyes.

"Hello, Jemma," Grant says friendly and then turns to Skye. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Skye slips her hand around Jemma's waist. "We're dating now."

He arches his eyebrows and huffs out a breath in amusement. "Does this mean I can say she's your girlfriend without you smiling childishly and telling me that you're 'not officially dating yet'?"

Jemma can't stop the smile that splits across her face. Skye rolls her eyes, embarrassed. "You can go to bed now, Grant," Skye says.

"You two are such a lovely couple." He says sincerely before excusing himself to go to sleep.

* * *

"For the record, I didn't 'smile childishly', he was exaggerating to embarrass me," Skye says as soon as they walk into her bedroom again and close the door behind them.

"If you say so," Jemma says sarcastically with a cheeky grin that makes Skye sigh.

Skye gestures to Jemma's body and says with a wistful look, "You can take those clothes off again now. I'm just saying."

Jemma narrows her eyes and shakes her head slightly. "You're incorrigible."

* * *

Jemma and Fitz both snap their heads up when they're pulled out of their thoughts by longing doorbell ring. Fitz looks at her. "Are you expecting someone?"

Jemma shakes her head, so he stands up and heads to the door. As soon as he opens it, an enthusiastic Skye jumps into the apartment, her long waves of hair bouncing over her shoulders.

“Jemma!” Skye calls out. She turns to Fitz and waves excitedly. “Oh, hi, Fitz!”

“Hello, Skye, please come in,” he jokes, shutting the door and going back to his studies.

“Fitz!” Jemma scolds him. Skye stops in front of Jemma as she gets to her feet. “Hey, why are you so jumpy?”

“Remember when I told you we’d celebrate together if I found a job?”

Two months ago Skye started looking for a job, after several years where her only source of income was doing freelance jobs as a programmer, added to the small amount of money that she gets from the advertisements on her YouTube vlog videos. She considered giving up after plenty of interviews where the employers wouldn’t hire her because she doesn’t have a college degree. Jemma knows, however, that her computer skills put her far beyond a lot of professionals out there. Sky was only hoping she could find an employer willing to understand that her lack of superior education doesn’t mean she’s any less qualified to do her job, whatever it would be.

Jemma beams, the realization of what must have happened hitting her. “Of course I remember!”

“Well then you better go change because we’re celebrating!” Skye jumps into Jemma’s arms and Jemma wraps her arms around Skye’s waist, rubbing her girlfriend’s back as they both laugh.

“Skye, that’s incredible!” Jemma exclaims.

“I know!” Jemma doesn’t think she’s ever seen Skye so happy. “I just got out of the interview and came straight here. I need to tell you about the interview because it was wild.”

“I want to hear everything while I change so we can go out.” Jemma reaches for Skye’s hand and leads her to her bedroom.

Skye sits on the edge of Jemma’s bed and Jemma starts searching through her closet for an outfit.

“I was at home doing nothing and suddenly this guy calls me. I knew him, I’d done a couple of things on the system of his store, like, six months ago, and he called me today and told me that the small company where his wife is one of the higher-ups had suffered a breach on their security system and was looking for someone who could improve it and he thought of me. He gave me the address and told me I could go there and ask his wife to let me do an unscheduled job interview if I wanted, so I obviously went there immediately.”

Skye is too excited to be sitting down quietly so she stands up and startles Jemma by hugging her from behind. Jemma stiffens when she feels Skye’s lips brushing the side of her neck.

“Focus on the story, Skye!” Jemma chastises her girlfriend.

“Sorry, you’re hot and almost naked, I couldn’t help myself,” Skye laughs, sitting down on the bed again. “Back to the story. As soon as the interview started they asked me about my goddamn college degree and I was like, ‘well, fuck’. I told them that I know computer science very well even though I never went to college but they obviously only heard the second part and said that they couldn’t hire me, same thing as my other interviews. I was pissed and said, ‘You won’t find anyone better to improve your security system than a person who can hack it easily with a laptop she won in a bet’.”

“Bloody hell.” Jemma’s jaw drops to the ground. “Did you really say that?”

“You bet your sweet ass I did.” Skye looks utterly delighted as she tells the story. “When I said that, they laughed at my face like I had just told them a joke, so I pulled my laptop out of my bag and said, ‘If I were you, I wouldn’t doubt it’.”

“You can’t be serious,” Jemma says in disbelief.

“I’m dead serious right now. There were two dudes, one of them didn’t even want to let me try and the other was way more fun so he said, ‘Let’s give the girl a shot, what harm can it do?’ and the other was like ‘A lot of harm, she’s clearly a hacker!’ so I assured them that I’m not a hacker and that I was only going to show them that I could breach their security and not do any harm. Eventually they decided I could try, so they gave me twenty minutes and stayed in the room watching me as if they were understanding anything that I was doing on my laptop.”

“Did you hack it?” Jemma asks anxiously.

“Jemma, please,” Skye says smugly. “The system was ridiculous, it took me less than ten minutes to break the firewall and then I hacked the computer in that office to display a black screen with the message ‘Am I hired now?’.”

“You did not do this.” Jemma gapes at her, standing still in the middle of her bedroom, her shirt half unbuttoned.

“I swear I asked them if I could take a picture to show my girlfriend but they didn’t let me. By the way, I shouldn’t even be telling anyone about this but you’re an exception.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Jemma says, shaking her head, trying to process what Skye just told her.

“You mean, unbelievably awesome.” Skye holds Jemma’s waist to pull her closer and finishes buttoning her girlfriend’s shirt, proceeding to press their lips together. “So where do you want to go?”

Jemma argues that Skye should choose where they go since she's the one they're celebrating. However, Jemma ends up suggesting they could have dinner at the same restaurant where they ate after that boring party two months ago, which brings up a highly immature discussion on whether Jemma spent the whole night staring at Jemma's lips or not. (She did. She denies it. But Skye did too, and when Jemma accuses her she doesn't bother to deny it.)

Later, they both agree it’s fitting that they’re having dinner together in the same place where they had their first—and unplanned—date. When Jemma jokes that she still hasn’t thanked Fitz for setting up their first meet, even though two months have passed and he still bothers her about that, Skye takes it way too seriously and sends him a text saying only “thank you”. He has no idea what she’s talking about, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

 

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to Ruth, the best beta ever. :)


End file.
